On the Second Go-Around
by Kenzie Perth
Summary: Fortunately for Aizen Sousuke, delusions of god-hood don't necessarily carry over into the next reincarnation. Unfortuately, neither do memories.
1. The Prologue

**Full Summary:** "If death meant just leaving the stage long enough to change costume and come back as a new character...Would you slow down? Or speed up?" ― Chuck Palahniuk. Fortunately for Aizen Sousuke, madness doesn't usually have a chance to carry over to the next life. Unfortunately, neither do memories.

 **A/N: A prologue to a short story that has been bugging me for a while. For the first and last time, disclaimer! Mayuri!**

 **Mayuri: What? Oh, you want me to do this disclaimer stating that you do not own Bleach. Very well. Bleach is only owned by Tite Kubo and Shounen Jump. Goodbye, and do not disturb me again unless you wish to be a test subject.**

 **Kenzie: Precisely.**

* * *

"There are no delusions for the dead. Dying is like waking up after a really good party, when you have one or two seconds of innocent freedom before you recollect all the things you did last night which seemed so logical and hilarious at the time, and then you remember the really amazing thing you did with a lampshade and two balloons, which had them in stitches, and now you realise you're going to have to look a lot of people in the eye today and you're sober now and so are they but you can both remember." - Terry Prachett.

* * *

Voids are difficult to describe when one does not have coherent thoughts, much less senses or a voice.

The entity floating in it wasn't much – just a stripped-down set of instincts and basic programming – the threads of a personality without the cerebral power required to process it.

Eventually, though, through a length of undetermined time – because time passes differently in vaccums, and logic is required to mark time – the entity grew and grew. Not physically, of course – who knows if it actually had a physical body or was just a mind floating in intangibleness – but mentally, growing more and more complex until it could remember.

And it remembered a name – Aizen Sousuke.

Well, after that, the memories poured back in – the loneliness, the distance between the entity and the other people who could have been considered comrades – the wanting to become transcendent, the urge to share that loneliness, the depravity that the emptiness brought.

All in all, it had not exactly been a good life.

The being that had once been Aizen Sousuke had gotten a second chance, and it sure as heck wasn't repeating the last time. It was too smart for that.

All of a sudden, there was a sensation of dissolving – the entity, the void, and the narration just

dis

a

ppea

red.

It was time to start again.


	2. Chapter 1: On Memoriam and Reincarnation

**A/N: First actual chapter, here we are! I listened to Never Meant to Belong from the Bleach soundtrack while writing this. It's a good accompaniment. As I forgot to mention in the prologue, this story is minorly AU already, because Aizen obviously died. That doesn't happen in the manga, in case you're interested. It will most like devolve to become more AU as the story goes on, because I don't want Gin to die. Again. T_T **

**Thanks for reading.**

* * *

A brown-haired, brown-eyed girl was born to the very Japanese Kobayashi family eight months after their shotgun wedding. The girl caused puzzlements in her family, as they all wondered how she could have a European appearance despite her genetic lineage. The father's side of the family not-so-secretly wondered about the actual identity of the girl's father. Furthermore, her mother had had a strong urge to name her Sousuke, despite the fact that that was a masculine name. Instead, she named her child after her mother.

The girl's eyes gave her parents shivers; they were far too old for a baby's; her father had trouble holding her because of that.

At age four, she picked out a pair of brown, square-rimmed wire-framed glasses that, despite her mother's insistence that they suited a much older person better, she stubbornly clung to. She also began to see spirits.

* * *

Kobayashi Shizuka first saw a shinigami at five years old, clinging on to her mother's hand at the zoo. It was an odd ghost, not at all like the ones on she saw on a regular basis, wearing black robes and shocking red hair in a pony tail down its back. It had its back turned, but somehow it seemed just a touch familiar – left a niggling sensation in the back of her mind, a wondering. Then she turned back around to watch the lions try to kill each other.

Around that time, she discovered how good she was at lying and manipulating.

When she was ten, there was another shinigami. It appeared around the same time her parents had announced their intent to divorce – two days after, actually, and three days before her birthday and a trip to a waterpark. (She hated water – it felt fake for some reason.) This time, she was walking back from school when a black-robed girl ran out of the _wall_ of a building – a hospital, as a matter of fact. Black hair hid her face – she was looking in the opposite direction, where a terrifying, familiar roar had sounded. For some reason, the sight of her made Shizuka's chest hurt, like there was something obstructing her heartbeat.

And then the girl dashed off, and the feeling disappeared, replaced by an intense wave of guilt.

Her parents divorced three months later, and her mother moved to Sasazuke. Her father and Shizuka stayed in Karakura Town.

* * *

After the divorce, life began to get better. She began to have friends, people she respected – who cared about her. She smiled more. And she kept her friends at arms length and manipulated them into loving her. And inside, she cried just a little bit, because this felt so _familiar_ , and it felt like death.

Just one year later, Shizuka encountered her third shinigami. She had been walking back from school again, and a hollow had appeared. She was going to die, she was sure. It was a rather calm revelation.

And then Ichigo had shunpoed in out of nowhere, sliced the Hollow's mask neatly in two, and had turned around to speak to her – and he froze.

So did Shizuka.

No, not Shizuka.

Aizen Sousuke looked at the face of his enemy once again, and for the perhaps only the second time in his memory, did not know what to say.

The constant trickle of memories returning was like a waterfall in the back of his mind – but it would be ignored for now.

With the memories came the unconcious release of stored up reiatsu, swamping the area and unconsciously forcing Ichigo to raise his own.

Strangely enough, looking at his killer did not inspire any of the emotions Sousuke thought it would – just surprise and a touch of curiousity.

Ichigo's face was difficult to decipher, all other emotions hidden behind pure shock. Then, he closed his mouth.

"Aizen?" There was a disbelieving air to his voice, a desperate hopelessness.

It was terrifying to see the affect Aizen's appearance had, to be honest.

But Aizen shoved down all the misgivings, smiled, and said, "The one and only."

The words seemed to bring Ichigo out of his shock, and he reeled back from his close position. "Wh-wh-what are you –" His words stuttered to a stop, and his expression regained its calm. "You were reborn. I see."

It was rather impressive, actually, to see how much the little Ryoka boy had become so controlled. But war did that to one.

"Would you believe me if I said that I changed?" There were very few ways that Aizen was getting out of this situation alive, especially with Ichigo's unpredictable nature. That was one of the things that made him lose the war. Him. Her. Oh, this was going to be complicated. This was also not the time for an identity crisis – save that until after hopefully surviving this.

And Ichigo looked at him – her (damnit) for the longest five seconds – and then said with surprising simplicity, "Yes."

Cue awkward pause.

Aizen could practically see the lightbulb go on over the Ryoka's head. "Hey, Aizen?"

Slowly, cautiously, Aizen said, "Yes?..."

And Ichigo grinned that wide grin of his that infuriated so many shinigami, Kuchiki Byakuya foremost among them, and said, "You have a lot of reiatsu, right? I can feel it from here. So, Hollows are most certainly going to be after you, and those will bring Shinigami who won't like seeing you at all."

That was all correct, and Aizen said as much.

The grin got bigger, if that was possible. "Well, I have a solution."

He paused.

"Want to become a Substite Shinigami?"

* * *

 **A/N: Ichigo is stupidly hard to write. Also, I totally just made Aizen a girl because I wanted to write identity issues. Heh. Please review! Thanks to those who did!**


	3. Urahara Can Really Glare

**A/N: Short chapter, sorry. I didn't really know what to do with this.**

* * *

The look that Aizen gave Ichigo could not be described.

It was sort of a mix of incredulity and disbelief and _Momo's going to kill me if I come back_.

He/she/they managed to get their voice to work after a few attempts, and what came out was, "What?"

They tried again. "What did you say?"

Ichigo looked rather bemused. "I said that you should become a Substitute Shinigami." He scratched his head. "I don't see anything wrong with that."

Aizen nearly choked at that. They wanted to strangle the stupid kid! Here he was, and instead of acting like any normal person would and trying to get revenge, he was offering refuge! Furthermore, as much as the Gotei 13 was enamored with him, the Substitute Shinigami position didn't carry nearly enough weight to make this decision – and here Ichigo was, offering to make them as substitute without even thinking?

All that Aizen said out loud, though, was, "How? How can you guarantee my safety?"

Ichigo shrugged. "My position does have some perks."

What position? Sosuke frowned, and then looked, really looked, at Ichigo for the first time in this surprise meeting – and did a double-take.

The ryoka was wearing a white haori.

"Taichou?" Sosuke's voice was laced with disbelief.

The ryoka's (he was still a ryoka, no matter what) face lit up with a huge grin, and he said proudly, "9th Division!"

And for once, Aizen could think of nothing to say. Nothing printable, at least.

* * *

Before they went to Soul Society, Aizen said goodbye to her father. The man was lost and confused, hazy in his despair and unsure of why Aizen was leaving – but said goodbye and gave his daughter a hug nonetheless. And then Ichigo erased his memories with a long face and the two sped away.

They didn't go say goodbye to Aizen's mother.

* * *

They went to Urahara immediately after that, something that Aizen was not happy about.

Urahara wasn't to happy about this either.

"Are you _sure_?" This was the fourth time Urahara Kisuke had asked the question, and the answer still remained the same, every time.

Ichigo grinned. "Never been surer."

And with that, Kisuke gave up.

He turned to Aizen, not even bothering to hide the loathing. "I'll be watching you – you make one move, you hurt one person – I'll personally make sure you don't get reborn again." There was acidity in his voice that was quite unusual, and it took Aizen aback, though it really shouldn't have.

So the reborn traitor smiled and said, "You're really one to talk."

* * *

Well, they fortunately had made it into the Soul Society without a hitch; Ichigo had opened the Senkaimon after Urahara had done his job, and the two had walked straight through – straight through to the streets of Seireitei. Unfortunately, they managed to open the gate right in front of the Shinigami Woman's Association's headquarters right as the meeting adjourned.

The first face that Aizen saw when he reentered the streets of the Soul Society was the face of Momo Hinamori.

The first thought that he had was that whoever controlled the gates was going to die.

And they wouldn't even know it.


	4. Snap, Tobiume!

**A/N: Yay, update. Sorry for the short length.**

* * *

Hinamori had cut her hair.

It suited her, Aizen noticed. (The symbolism didn't escape her. He had decided on her – damnit.)

When one is facing imminent death or at least a heck of a lot of pain, it is kind of funny the sort of details the mind picks up.

Momo (and really, Aizen had no business calling her old fukutaichou that) juddered just a bit, ignoring the astonished sort of gaping sound Matsumoto made and the simultaneous movements toward their swords that was the rest of the SWA.

The movement seemed to wash down her, and she straightened, straight-backed and poker-faced. Her hand very firmly gripped her sword, and the words of doom were uttered.

"Snap, Tobuime."

Sousuke was about to run away when Ichigo (really, that boy was a taichou now? And of the Ninth, of all places? At least it wasn't her old squad... Speaking of which, she wondered who her replacement was...) stepped forward. "Please stand down, Hinamori-fukutaichou."

Apparently he had learned manners as well. They worked, thankfully enough, and Hinamori slowly powered down her sword, sliding it back into its sheath with a threatening click.

They left the Seiretei Woman's Association behind with a brisk clip, Momo's eyes boring into the back of Aizen the entire way.

The walk to the soutaichou's office was a long one, full of blatant staring, whispering, and some posturing from the lower ranks of the Shinigami and subtle threats from the upper.

The look in Kyouraku's eye when the pair entered the office was worse. He stood up in a sweep of robes and a heavy weight of reiatsu, a barely hidden threat. He practically throbbed with displeasure. Ichigo, Aizen noticed, had become a little more solemn.

"What are you doing, Ichigo?" Sousuke almost balked at the age in the man's words – he knew that Kyouraku was old, but he had never really let it show in his voice.

What exactly had happened between her death and now?

And speaking of which, where was the old soutaichou? Not that Aizen had been particularly fond of him, but the white beard, gnarly cane, and noticeable aura of heat had kind of been a staple of Seiretei.

Then again, Yamamoto probably would've just fried Sousuke the moment she stepped in the door and then asked questions.

Aizen was so engrossed in her thoughts she didn't even notice that Ichigo had been talking until Kyouraku's rough voice cut into her thoughts. "He-" he faltered, "-she will be your responsibility, then."

Ichigo grinned, put a hand on Aizen's shoulder, and steered her out the door with a "Bye, Shunsui!" and a wave.

He stopped them in front of the Fifth Division, and before Sousuke realized what was going on, he had run away, shouting "He's yours now! Don't kill him!"

And for the second time that day, there was the sound of Tobuime being unsheathed and the sickly-sweet voice of Momo Hinamori.

"Hello, Aizen-Taichou."

* * *

The explosions lit up Seireitei through most of the day and a considerable chunk of the night and for one brief instant, Ichigo wondered if he overdone it a little.

Then he shrugged and turned away. After all, Aizen probably deserved it.


	5. Taking the Quieter Way Around

**A/N: Wow. Look. An update. Aren't you proud of the accomplished author?**

 **Okay, I'm sorry.**

 **This is probably the second to last chapter? Dunno. Let's see how long this one turns out.**

* * *

Aizen was absolutely not going to cause trouble if only because right now she couldn't afford to.

In fact, nearly all her original goals had been accomplished. Central Forty-Six? Did them in with her own hand and later a bunch of bow-wielding Germans. Yamamoto Genryuusai? Taken care of by a rather convenient god of said bow-wielding Germans. (Said Germans, incidentally, were wandering around Seiretei and parts of Rukongai as probationary Shinigami support for patrols). And of course – the Soul King. Killed by none other than her former greatest enemy. The only thing that was missing was ruling over the worlds as a god (and honestly that just sounded like a lot of work for the moment, particularly without a convenient hollow army to back her up).

It was rather ironic, actually.

Aizen wasn't really sure what she wanted now, but probably surviving was important. And honestly? The best way to do that would be to stay on the Gotei 13's good side for as long as possible. Already she had one of the captains defending her.

Admittedly it'd be an uphill battle from there, considering that several of the captains were Vaizards and not particularly fond of the reformed traitor's presence. But Ichigo was the key. Ichigo was always the key.

Ah, but she was getting off topic. Shinigami live for a long time, and hold grudges for longer, but Aizen was patient. It would take a lot of years for the memory of betrayal to be erased, and probably even more until the outsider could be trusted again – but really, Aizen had all the time in the world.

And once she got to that point? Well, there were a lot of things she could do. For one, the Eighth Division was missing a captain…

And, of course, though Kyouraku didn't really look it, the new Captain-Commander was really quite old – though he'd last for a long time yet, Aizen would last longer.

There are easier, quieter ways to take over a society, after all. This time, she'd take the subtler route.

From her position in the Ninth Squad's cafeteria, she could see Ichigo striding over to her through the whispering, staring clusters of his squad. He sat down next to her with a thump. "Whatcha thinking about?"

(Of course, there was no guarantee it would even work, and she barely even had enough backup plans, so no big moves yet. That was what had brought her down the first time. Gaining everybody's trust was the priority.)

Aizen smiled rather sweetly and said, "Nothing, really."

After all, time would tell all.

* * *

 **A/N: Quick note about the timeline – this is AU, as Aizen actually died instead of being tied to bandage chair for all eternity (or until some lets him out… I wonder who that would be? EHHHHHH?). Let's assume the Quincy war has been fought (and won) and a bunch of the Quincies that didn't die or weren't part of Yhwach's personal guard were just kinda like "eh, sure, I'll join the Shinigami. Better than being dead – oh waaaiiitt."**

 **So the Vaizards are the captains of the Third and Fifth divisions, though Ichigo is captain of the Ninth because Mashiro didn't want to go back to Seiretei so of course Kensei stayed with her and Lisa and I dunno who else.**

 **Urahara took over as captain of the Twelfth, and Yoruichi is possibly Soi-Fon's Lieutenant. I'm still deciding on that one.**

 **Kyouraku is obviously Captain-Commander.**

 **Other than that, the story is pretty much the same. (Dunno where Ukitake is, I'm gonna just go with whatever happened him in the manga.)**


	6. Everybody Wants to Rule the World

It's nearly 1,200 years later. A lot has changed in the human world, and though the Seiretei is ever slow to adapt to change, there have been a lot of upheavals, as well.

Aizen Sousuke still thinks it's a miracle Ichigo didn't drag her sorry reincarnated backside to Central 49 all those years ago, and even more so that Kyouraku didn't. (She also thinks that it's a miracle that Momo didn't kill her immediately after returning. She's still not sure how she got away with that.)

She did eventually stand trial for her crimes, but with the sponsorship of arguably the most influential captain aside from the head of Sereitei himself on her side, she had gotten a remarkably light slap on the wrist in the form of some reiatsu suppressors to be worn for a hundred years, a pay dock, and a ban from becoming captain without unanimous support from the rest of her possible peers. (No more than expected, and honestly, far easier to overcome than some of the alternatives.)

It's a good thing, though, for Sereitei, that she wasn't banished or executed. Not only was Soul Society clearly bereft of much decent fighting material (the Quincys had cleaned house very efficiently), the loss of Captain Ukitake was felt even in the souls of the Living World, where he had managed to gain some friends among the spiritually aware comrades of Ichigo Kurosaki. Soul Society needed leadership, and Aizen was more than willing to provide it.

The real challenge came with making those who had survived both wars trust her again.

1,200 years is a long time even for Shinigami standards, and time does really make memories begin to fade, as her current rank definitely proves.

A thousand years ago, and she would have never been made a Vice-Captain like her armband proudly states. (She is, of course, still assigned under Ichigo. Not only is the Fifth Division still clearly uncomfortable with her presence, Ichigo is the only captain who trusts her enough to leave her to her own devices with command of an entire division.)

That being said, while the Vaizards do still stare at her hostilely every time she passes by, she can at least have a civil conversation with most of them (well, as civil as it gets with Hiyori. Really, that girl was aptly named.) Her polite manner and considerable power, not to mention the gentle beauty that her features have grown into have only served to make her even more popular with the young generation than before her betrayal, and the rumors of her past feats have give her persona a wild undertone that could never have been accurately falsified before.

Eventually, even the captains will break down and give in. Aizen can see it in their eyes, sometimes, when they look at her, a sort of questioning of "is it really wise for me to trust her?" With time, she knows the answer will become more and more positive, more and more ready to hand over responsibility that will be vital to her plans. And she can wait. If there is one thing Aizen learned from her past failures, it is to be patient while waiting and never reveal one's plans too soon. Even now, she suspects, if she had initially remained silent about her ideas, the Soul Society would be in her grasp. But that's in the past, and irrelevant.

Her pen twitches on the paperwork – what's she's writing is mostly done by rote. A bored sigh escapes her lips, and raising her head, Aizen Sousuke looks out her window to what will be her kingdom (it just doesn't know it yet).

* * *

5,000 years later, a woman with tied-back brown hair and square glasses sits behind a nearly identical desk, staring out the window.

A call from a low-ranked seat brings her attention forward again, and as she steps from her seat to deal with the newest batch in the influx of refugees from the 48th District after the bombings protesting her new policies on Shinigami Academy admittance, her white Haori nearly knocks over the potted strawberry plant on the windowsill.

On the back of it, there is a large black ichi.

* * *

 **A/N: So. I'm finished. This is the epilogue and ending to** _ **On the Second Go-Around,**_ **and I'm pretty pleased with this story as a whole.**

 **Background: I was unable to fit it into the story, but what happened with the whole missing-a-captain thing was Rukia was offered the 13** **th** **division captaincy, but declined it, so Hisagi took over as 13** **th** **Division Captain, allowing for Aizen to smoothly slide in there and steal the 9** **th** **Division's Vice-Captaincy. Sneaky, Aizen. Sneaky.**

 **A note: Aizen notes that Hiyori Sarugaki is aptly named. This comes from the translation of Hiyori's family name, which** _ **basically**_ **means monkey-brat. (This is not entirely correct as Gaki can be translated a lot of different ways, but it sounds the best and fits the best for Hiyori.) I don't think the kanji actually** _ **mean**_ **monkey brat, either, instead giving us a fantastic case of horrible homophones. Lovely last name to have, right?**

 **Also, I'm imagining in the last part Aizen's new policies have to do with removing the noble children's advantage in the Academy and changing entrance policies to make** _ **everyone**_ **test to enter, not just the noble bratlings. So presumably, the bombings' are the noble families' faults. But probably not Byakuya, Byakuya's cool.**

 **Uh... About the last line, I actually had the symbol, but FF didn't like it, so I just ended up writing "ichi" instead.**

 **Lastly, I forgot to point this out earlier on, but the reason Aizen's acting so discombobulated and not really on top of her game at first is just that – she's discombobulated after receiving several hundred (thousand?) years of memories all at once, including some understandably hard-to-process ones.**

 **Reviews would make me ridiculously happy, as would reading my other stories. They don't bite, I promise.**


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